Court sets aside case against TNA MPs ( right to speak)

Pongu Thamil in London

By T. Farook Thajudeen

Court yesterday set aside the case against Jaffna and Batticaloa TNA parliamentarians who faced charges that at a Pongu Thamil festival in Europe and in Australia they had made speeches critical of the security forces.CID detectives told Colombo Chief Magistrate Nishantha Hapuarachchi the Attorney General had decided that though the MPs had admitted they made the speeches they could not be indicted as the investigations had not revealed any direct or circumstantial evidence of their having violated provisions of Article 157 (a) of the Constitution and Section 120 of the Penal Code No. 16 of 2006.

As a result, CID officer Wijeratne Wasala moved that the case be set aside, as the CID could not proceed with the case against the four accused Kanagalingham Sivajilingham, Senadiraja Jeyananda Moorthy, Ariyanethram Pakyaselvam and Selvaraja Gajandran for lack of evidence.

The CID initiated investigations on a complaint made by the Police Chief that at a Pongu Tamil Festival in Australia and Europe the four TNA parliamentarians had made speeches critical of the security forces.

When the case was taken up earlier senior counsel K.V. Thavarasa appearing for the accused said the CID should also investigate the speeches made by certain ministers at Pongu Tamil festivals and pointed out that the speeches made outside of the country would not be inquired into under the provisions of the Constitution.
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